Years ago, our grandparents came to this country in search of what we affectionately call the "American Dream." In the words of author and historian James Truslow Adams, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement," regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.
The idea that one can achieve success through hard work and perseverance is what keeps many Americans going, and keeps people coming here. We strive for freedom, democracy, opportunity, and equal rights, and that's one of the many things that makes America a great place to be.
Despite the promise of a good life that it brings, many are saying that the American Dream is dead. They claim that this generation is lazy, narcissistic, entitled, and materialistic. They also say that we've been coddled our entire lives and we don't know how to work for what we want.
The American Dream is not dead. In fact, the definition from over 80 years ago is the same one that can be used to explain the present-day American Dream.
It's just been placed into a different context.
The truth is, millennials aren't necessarily in search of a lucrative career, traditional marriage, or having 2.5 children. They might want a three-bedroom ranch house in the suburbs, and they might not. Young women can study to be teachers, but they can also be engineers and scientists.
For the first time, the parameters of what makes a "good life" are not decided by your parents, past precedent, or what everyone else is doing; we have the power to choose to live whatever life we want to live and to chase whatever dream we choose to chase.
We still believe that life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. In fact, we're living that ideal better now than we ever have before. Social justice and equality movements led by young people prove that we hold the equal rights of our generation very dear to our hearts. We do what we can for those who can't, instead of purely for ourselves, or we don't do it at all.
The new American Dream is all about experiencing life. Millennials want to do more with their lives; we want to do everything we can, meet everyone we're able to, and see the world while we're young. We aren't lazy -- we just see life in a different way.
The beauty of dreams is that they are not all the same. Each person can work towards a different goal and that's completely alright. The truth is: the American Dream is not dead.
It's more alive now than it has ever been.
